Garden in Bloom

A trio of oxeye daisies in the meadow

Daisies and verbena

Enjoying all the daisies

Edible violet

The coral honeysuckle is doing great in its new spot on the arbor by the patio

A new salvia plant

Daikon radish in beautiful pastels

Our blackberries are taking off this year!

Commelina behind the back gate

Strawberries finally ripening!

Baby delicate squash

Catnip is enjoyable for people too

Clover adds cheer throughout the garden

Culinary sage in bloom

Lyreleaf sage

Verbena

We were happy to discover our mulberry tree bears fruit!

A cloud of cilantro

Engelmann Daisy

Learning a New Trick...Like Pulling a Rabbit (or Three) Out of a Hat

We researched and researched, then we put it on the back burner.  Then we searched, re-searched, and finally found our meat rabbits.

We found a great rabbit breeder near Wimberley, Texas.  She is keeping the heritage American rabbit breed thriving.  The breed was popular in the past, but fell out of favor when new hybrid breeds, like the Californian and New Zealand, were created.  But a handful of dedicated breeders saved the breed and are continuing to improve its characteristics, such as the bluest fur color of all rabbits.

We took a day trip to Wimberley.  We  started by hiking up Old Baldy to survey the landscape from the highest peak around.  We drank brew pub beer from a huge goblet as a caravan of VW microbuses stopped for some pizza.  Before heading outside of town to pick up the rabbits, we walked along a beautiful nature trail that followed Cypress Creek.

Meet our new rabbits!

Cosby, 4.5 month old male.  Named after Bill Cosby, his cage jiggles like Jell-O when he jumps around.

Blackberry, 4.5 month old female.  She is a little sweet, a little sour, and a bit prickly.

Violet, 2 month old female.  The shy one of the bunch, she is our shrinking violet.

We had just enough cages made and hung in the chicken run to keep them safe and comfortable (and out of our room!).  However, we have spent every evening this week finishing the set-up, especially the automatic water system.

The chickens like their new neighbors.  Looking at the rabbits and listening to the chickens makes it seem like we have Cadbury Bunnies.  They don't lay chocolate eggs, just droppings that are golden fertilizer for the garden. 

There Is Always Something New To Do in the Garden

There is always something going on in the garden - another project to take care of, whether planned or unplanned. Several recent unplanned projects include repairing the soil around the onions and beets after 3 of the chickens figured out how to get through the new pallet fence, then repairing all of the mulch paths after the 2 inches of rainfall in 2 hours rushed through the yard displacing mulch and even soil, including around the newly fixed onion plants. Chickens breaking in, lack of rain, too much rain, armadillos in the yard, cutworms, freezes...always something to keep us on our toes. But it's the moments such as learning more about the beneficial insects in the garden, discovering native plants that we wanted to add to the garden had already seeded themselves in, and flavorful harvests that make it all worth it. The exciting harvest pictured below is similar to those we've been enjoying during the cooler winter and spring weather. We've been enjoying lots of greens including swiss chard, beet greens, arugula, dino kale, oak leaf lettuce, and spinach, carrots, beets, herbs like cilantro dill parsley and oregano, multiplying onions, shallots, and thinnings of immature red, yellow, and white bulb onions!

Ladybug larva, foreground (2-4 weeks), and pupa, background (5-7 days) molting into ladybug